


How Dean (accidentally) adopted Claire

by River_of_Dawn



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Claire Novak in the Men of Letters Bunker, Dean Winchester is Claire Novak's Parent, Dean Winchester is Good With Children, Fluff, Gen, Hunter Claire Novak, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Parent Dean Winchester, a dash of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23808898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/River_of_Dawn/pseuds/River_of_Dawn
Summary: "I... I love Claire, I really do, but, boys, I'm not ready to raise her. Alex was a challenge but she was willing to adapt to civilian life. To my life. Claire... She wants to hunt. And I'm not ready to raise a hunter.""Wait, Jody, you can't say..." Dean stared at the sheriff, who looked apologetic."I want you to take her in, to raise her. I can't stop her from following her dreams and I certainly don't want to stop her from following her dreams. So you're the best choice here."
Relationships: Claire Novak & Dean Winchester
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63





	How Dean (accidentally) adopted Claire

**Author's Note:**

> Whilst I was watching 11x12 I made myself this note:
> 
> _After 11x12 Jody tells the boys that they're responsible for Claire now since she can't deal with her anymore_
> 
> Obviously, this turned out a bit differently, but the idea simply grabbed me and I wrote this in two sittings.
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own Supernatural, sadly.
> 
> **Warnings:** There's just about nothing but fluff with a bit of teenage angst here. I mean, Dean cusses a bit, but who cares? Oh, and I'm not a native speaker, so there might be some minor mistakes.
> 
> I hope you like this!

"I... I love Claire, I really do, but, boys, I'm not ready to raise her. Alex was a challenge but she was willing to adapt to civilian life. To my life. Claire... She wants to hunt. And I'm not ready to raise a hunter."

"Wait, Jody, you can't say..." Dean stared at the sheriff, who looked apologetic.

"I want you to take her in, to raise her. I can't stop her from following her dreams and I certainly don't want to stop her from following her dreams. So you're the best choice here. Also, she respects you guys much more than she respects me. And don't try to deny it! She's never followed my lead as easily as she follows yours. She willingly accepts you as authority figures. She's willing to learn what you have to teach. She admires you, even if she'll never admit it, you are her heroes."

This, Dean could not deny. He knew that Claire was someone with authority issues – and who for that exact reason was so much more likely to listen to somebody she respected. If Jody couldn't fill that role for her, it wasn't hard to guess what kind of troubles would be in their joined future. Unless Claire was willing to make do with a softer and more lovingly approach than what she was used to. But the way it was right now? Jody's way of living was too _normal_ for the teen.

"So, what, we're just supposed to take her with us now? How would that even work?"

"Well, I would tell the people in Sioux Falls that her... uncles have finally taken her in. They won't ask. And you take her to your batcave where you can train her and teach her about hunting, so that she'll at least be safe when she's out there." There was hurt, but also acceptance in her tone.

"And Claire?" Sam butted in. "Is she okay with this?"

Jody laughed. "Claire? As if she wouldn't be excited! To be given the opportunity to live the hunting life 24/7, with her idols no less, is her dream. Much more than college ever was and ever will be. She's ecstatic, although she'll never admit it."

Dean met Jody's eyes and saw the hidden humor in them, even as she put on an annoyed front.

"And you're fine with... just letting her go?"

"I... Uh... No, not really. But that's kids for you. They won't make you happy. They'll stress you out and test you every step of the way. And one day you'll look back and be damned proud of them whilst watching them pave their own way through life." Jody chuckled. "And for me it's time to let her go and watch you two alongside that angel of yours raise her to be a hunter we all can be proud of."

Dean watched the teen sitting near the door, picking at some grass between the stones, her shoulders hunched over slightly.

"I'll talk with Claire first before we can promise anything. Also, there _will_ be some kind of trial period before we really take her in long-term. If it doesn't work out Claire will be back at yours, Jody. Also, there's always the option that we can't take her with us and also can't have her stay at the bunker. In that case you'll have to watch over her as well."

Even if Dean was willing to take her in, he knew that life wouldn't be easy with a kid along the ride. He had promised himself that he would never raise a kid the way his father did – or as a hunter at all – but Claire didn't really leave him another choice. It was Krissy all over – only now he could do something about it. He could at least keep an eye on her, provide her with backup and training and try to do his best to keep her alive.

"So... shared custody of is." Jody grinned and waved with one hand at Claire. "Go talk to the girl. She's getting nervous, watching the grownups talk about her this much."

Dean nodded and wandered along the driveway towards the teen, who had by now switched to picking at her cuticles.

"Hey, Claire."

He sat down next to the teen, who looked up at him out of those incredibly blue eyes that were just so... _Cas_ that he was momentarily shocked not to see the angel's face.

"Jody said you wanted to stay with us?"

"Phhh... Yeah. I mean, you're hunters, so I could learn to be a better hunter. So that maybe next time I'll gank that vampire sooner, you know?" Claire chanced another look at him, betraying her anxiety, her tough girl facade not holding up. But Dean could also see the shame in her face that she hadn't done better – a feeling he was all too familiar with.

"Sure do. And you'd be fine living with old guys like us?"

"Well... It would be difficult. I mean, you're so old... That makes things more difficult..." Her eyes crinkled.

"Of course." Dean laughed. Then he sobered up: "You do know that there'll be rules and consequences, don't you? I mean, life as a hunter's kid? It's harsh. We'll try to do our best but there will be times you'll hate us, I promise."

He looked down the driveway to where Sam and Jody were still talking next to the Impala. His baby was positively shining underneath the sun.

"What kind of rules?"

"Mainly it'll be along the lines of 'Do what we say or there'll be consequences'. But in case you come with us to the bunker we'll discuss it all more in detail." Sam laughed and Jody laid her hand on his arm. It was nice to see them so happy.

"And what consequences?"

"Depends. Our dad used to spank us or make us run around the parking lot until we threw up. But that won't be what you'll have to do. I mean, Jody kinda sprung this on us like a minute ago, so I'm not really sure yet. Maybe you'll have to take on extra chores. Maybe write lines or an essay. Maybe we'll up your training. We'll see."

"Okay then. I can live with that."

Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Famous last words."

"Haha, very funny."

"Okay, so any other questions from your side? Or are you ready to go?"

"Oh, I'm so ready."

"Got everything you need?"

"Sure." Claire lifted the bag beside her.

"Then go say bye to Jody and Alex. Sam and I will wait in the car."

As Claire walked back into the house to say goodbye to Alex, Dean went back to Jody and Sam.

"Well, it has been nice seeing you again. Oh, and thanks for all the food!" Dean laughed.

"Yeah, Jody, that food is amazing!" Sam lifted one of the many containers she had given them.

"Alright, boys. I'll send you some recipes. Please try to eat something homemade at least once a week, if only for Claire's sake." Jody raised an eyebrow and Dean felt warmth wash over him.

"Promise, Jody," he answered her with a fond tone in his voice, planning on making sure to keep this promise.

Sam hugged her and went to the passenger seat.

"Good luck with Claire, Dean."

They hugged as well.

"I'll take good care of her, don't you worry."

"Well then, off you go!"

Dean went around the car and sat back into the driver's seat.

The two brothers watched silently as Claire left the house and hugged Jody goodbye, the two women holding each other tightly, exchanging quiet words Dean couldn't quite make out. Then Claire let go and turned towards the car. As soon as the girl had slid into the backseat, Dean drove down the driveway and onto the street, leaving Jody and Alex behind.

"So, where do you guys even live?"

"There's this bunker, just outside Lebanon, Kansas."

"Wait, you guys live in a bunker? That's a joke, right?" Claire looked incredulous.

"Nope,” Dean laughed. “We are so called 'Legacies' to a secret society called 'Men of Letters'. They were basically glorified librarians for everything supernatural."

"Okay, so that's a thing..."

"So, uh, Claire," Sam cleared his throat, "do you have any wishes for your room or otherwise that you think we could just get on the way?"

"I... No, not really. Not right now at least. Maybe some posters later on? Maybe Green Day?”

“Good choice,” Sam answered approvingly, whilst Dean sighed. Another one.

“To be honest, this is still kinda overwhelming," Claire added, shrugging slightly and twisting her hands in her lap.

As the tire of the Impala drove over the raised road marks, Dean turned his attention back to the road and away from the teenager they had just picked up.

"Trust me, it's new to us as well. Since we'll be training you, we need to know what you can do. There are two ways we could do that. The first would be that you tell us about your skills and weaknesses honestly. The second would be that we test you tomorrow after we got back to the bunker. Personally, I think we should just do both. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure. Do you want to do this now?"

"Why not. Or is there anything that would make this impossible?" Dean chanced another look into the rear view mirror. Claire still seemed relaxed.

"No."

"Okay, then let's get started. How do you want to do this? Do you just want to tell us or should we ask questions?"

"Dunno."

"Claire, you gotta understand that you have to make choices now. There will mainly be two kinds of extreme in your life now: obeying our orders to the dot and making decisions that could end or save lives. So please just answer Dean's question. I know -- we know -- that you're new to this, but you will have to get used to how we operate and the sooner that happens, the better for all of us." Sam twisted around in his seat to look at her.

Claire shied away a bit. "I... Fine. You can ask questions."

"Okay, Claire. Let's start simple. Can you pick a lock?" Dean took over again.

After an hour of questioning -- with the questions ranging anywhere between fighting skills to allergies -- Dean finally relented and started playing music, singing along softly.

He could see Claire slowly relaxing back into her seat, now that his attention had been lifted off her.

The drive to the bunker wasn't all that long – at least not with proper company – and it didn't take long for them to reach Lebanon and soon after the bunker.

By the time Dean opened the trunk, grabbing their duffles, it was getting dark outside and they quickly entered the bunker, tired and hungry.

“Wow,“ Claire exclaimed, seeing the bunkers inside for the first time, after having looked skeptic when seeing the outside. „You guys live here?“ Her eyes roamed over the vast expanse laid out in front of her.

Dean felt a glimmer of pride in his chest. “Yeah. And that's not all. Wait until you see the shooting range,“ he boasted.

“You have a shooting range. You're kidding, right?“

“Nope! We also got a dungeon.“

“Not falling for that one, old man.“ Claire crossed her arms.

“I'll show you tomorrow, okay? For now just the essentials. This is the war room. If we got something to plan, we do it here. Over there is the kitchen. If you want a quick snack, feel free to grab something – as long as it's without alcohol.“

“Really? C'mon, I've had alcohol before and I'm sure you've had some whilst you were underage as well,” the teen complained.

“Nope – no alcohol until you're at least twenty-one.”

“But in other countries they're allowed to drink at age sixteen...” Claire argued.

“Wait, really?”

“Uh-huh,” Sam answered. “There's, uh, Germany and I think several other European countries as well.”

“Huh... Didn't know that... Anyways, we're not in Germany or any other European country, so we'll abide the laws of the good ol' US – that clear?”

“That's rich,” the teen muttered and looked at the map table.

“What did you just say?”

“Alright, I got it – no drinking until it's legal, because you gotta obey at least one law.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, cut out the sass, okay?”

“Fine... So, you were showing me around?” Claire turned away and threw a pointed look around.

“I'm gonna let this slide this one time, alright? Next time it won't be this easy. We'll just say you're tired and not used to this new situation yet, but you'll stop that behavior from now on, okay? You agreed to do this, to let us train you, and in return you promised to obey.”

“Yes, sir.”

To Dean's surprise the sir actually sounded respectful. Who would've thought?

“Better. Okay, so, yeah. There's the kitchen. We always keep it stocked with the essentials, but if you need or want anything you can tell us, so we can pick it up on our next grocery run. Now, here we've got our main library, but I think the men of letters just had this one to look cool. So, basically, you've got many old and rare books here and most books and files concerning actually useful information are in several storerooms in a system we haven't figured out quite yet. But we'll get to those later. For now, we've got the main hallway over here. Down there you can get to the shooting range and the gym, over there we got a lot of storerooms and our dungeon” – Claire raised an eyebrow but remained silent – “and over here are the dormitories.”

They entered the hallway Dean had gestured towards last.

“So, as you see we've got lots of room, but Sam and mine are on this second hallway over here – here's mine, there's Sam's – so we'd prefer for you to choose one in this hallway as well. Most of these are free – this one was Kevin's, this one's Charlie's, over here is Cas's room – so just pick whichever you'd like.”

“Uh... I'll just take this one?” Claire gestured towards the door with the number 21, then looking towards the Winchester's for confirmation.

Dean nodded approvingly. “That one's free – or was. Now it's yours.”

“If you'd excuse me?” Sam yawned. “I'll go to sleep now. Could you fill her in on the rest?”

“Sure, Sammy. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Sam.”

They watched the tall man leave, then turned back towards the door.

“C'mon – open it.”

“Sure, fine. No need to get pushy, old man.”

Dean raised an eyebrow and Claire looked down, before opening the door.

The room looked just like any of the other rooms the Men of Letters had in this bunker. Boring and unpersonal. Dean made a mental note to design this room as soon as possible so that Claire would have a safe space in the bunker. She probably had never had one since she had been forced to live on her own other than at Jody's.

The teenager curiously entered the room; looking around the empty space.

“May I come in?”

Claire looked up in surprise.

“Uh, sure, I guess.”

“Okay, so we'll start decorating your room as soon as possible. One thing about this room – it's yours. So you get to decorate it and Sam and I will never enter it unless it's an emergency. You will have complete privacy in this room and should you ever wish for me or Sam to leave the room we will do so. We will not interfere with anything you do in this room, unless it is damaging to your well being. I trust you to not abuse our trust in your maturity.”

“That's – thanks, Dean.”

Dean shrugged uncomfortably under the praise.

“You're welcome. Now, we will take you as soon as possible to get you some things to decorate your room – posters, paint, rugs, books, whatever. Should you ever wish to get something else, feel free to tell us and we will pay for it. Should you however willfully destroy something of yours and want to get it anew you'll have to pay for that yourself.”

“And how exactly should I do that? You might not have noticed, Dean, but I do not own any money. At all.”

“Oh, I've noticed. Whilst you're staying here you'll get a weekly allowance. If you can't cover the cost with that you're free to either loan money from me or Sam – meaning you won't get any allowance until you've paid us back the amount in that way – or by doing some extra chores. In general, if you want more money for whatever reason, I'm sure we can find some chores for you. This is mainly, because unlike other teens you're not able to take on a job whilst staying with us, so that you're still financially able to make your own decisions.”

“Oh... that's cool, I guess.” Claire yawned, hiding it quickly behind her hand.

“Okay, it's getting late. I'll finish this up quickly. Right now it's around ten in the evening. Whilst you're staying here we'll try to give you the option to get at least nine hours of sleep every night. I'll wake you up at eight am sharp. Breakfast will be served at eight-thirty and we'll probably start training at nine-thirty. Generally, we'll try and have lunch at one o'clock and dinner at eight. As I said before, you get lots of chances to go to the kitchen for a quick snack whenever you're hungry, so just do that whenever. Oh – and I'd say lights out at two the latest. Any questions?”

“No, sir. Good night.”

“Good night, Claire. Sleep tight.”

He dropped her duffle on her bed and pulled her into a quick side-hug before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

Dean leaned against the hallway wall and sighed. This was bound to be interesting. How had he adopted a teenager without even noticing?

But no matter what was to come, he knew that he would love Claire the way she deserved because she damn deserved it after the life she had led. She was a strong girl, so she should be fine.

No, she would be fine. And he was gonna make that possible.

**Author's Note:**

> This end is somehow not really what I hoped it would be, but inspiration ran out and I really wanted to post this... so... yeah. Here it is!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed reading this. Feel free to leave me some feedback!
> 
> I probably won't continue this tho, unless a really good idea strikes me. (It's known to have happened before...)


End file.
